The cult leader has inspired thoughtful works of art and literary novels but is more often used as a hackneyed shortcut to outrage. Why the fascination with a white supremacist and misogynist who masterminded the murder of seven people?

The 1969 Manson Family killings retain their appalling fascination. From podcasts to TV series to this season’s hottest book – Emma Cline’s The Girls – the hippy horror is still being picked over for meaning